Hello listers if you are watching the Olympics, they mentioned Bingham Canyon, Enjoy a little history of the mining in the area that brought 15,000 of our ancestors to the area. Before 1869, fewer than 100 miners, mostly Welsh, Irish or Cornish in origin, lived in the canyon. More history on--Utah Copper Search with Google http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=BINGHAM+MINE+UTAH BINGHAM MINE http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/b/BINGHAMCANYON.html Bingham Canyon is located in the Oquirrh Mountains approximately twenty-five miles southwest of Salt Lake City. The canyon was first settled in August 1848 by two Mormon pioneers, Thomas and Sanford Bingham. The two brothers had been sent to the area by Brigham Young, who requested that they take a herd of horses and cattle belonging to himself, the Bingham family, and others up to the high land around the main canyon. They erected a small cabin about one-and-a-half miles below the entrance to the canyon on the north side of its creek. The canyon proved to be an ideal place not only for herding cattle, but also for cutting timber. For the next few years, the Bingham brothers spent their time engaged in these pursuits, and also in prospecting for valuable minerals. Some ores were found but the Bingham were advised by Brigham Young not to engage in mining at that time. The policy of the Mormon Church discouraged mining because all available labor was desperately needed to produce the necessities of life. There was also the fear that mining would attract non-Mormons from out of state and have a degrading effect upon those who engaged in it. The ore finds were soon forgotten after 1850 when the Binghams moved to settle Weber County. Nevertheless, Bingham Canyon continued to be used as an abundant source of timber. Mormon leaders recognized this economically valuable resource when, in 1850, they granted permission for a sawmill to be erected in West Jordan by Archibald and Robert Gardner. A mill was constructed in the canyon itself in 1864 when Brigham Young persuaded a group of pioneers headed for Idaho with a sawmill from the East to build it by Carr Fork. During this time, many wagonloads of timber were taken from the canyon's hillsides, including most of the timber used to construct the roof of the Salt Lake Tabernacle. In 1863, as logging operations continued, valuable ores were again discovered in the canyon by George B. Ogilvie, Archibald Gardner, and some soldiers from Fort Douglas. The ore finds were sent to General Patrick Connor, who was the commander of the Third California Infantry, stationed during the Civil War at Salt Lake City's Fort Douglas. He assayed the ore and found it to contain rich quantities of both gold and silver. General Connor then supervised the organization of the West Mountain Mining District, which included Bingham Canyon and most of the Oquirrh Mountains. The rush for the riches of Bingham Canyon then commenced as Connor encouraged his soldiers, many of them veterans of the California gold rush, to prospect. He hoped that the mining fever would attract non-Mormons from outside of Utah to come to the state and thus dilute the influence of Mormons. A few rich strikes were made but the high cost of wagon transportation made the discoveries uneconomical. This almost caused the canyon to be abandoned. Mining continued, however, when men switched to placer mining in Bingham Creek. One claim yielded more than $2,000,000 in gold by 1868. However, for most miners, the placer deposits could only barely provide enough food to eat. Before 1869, fewer than 100 miners, mostly Welsh, Irish or Cornish in origin, lived in the canyon. The arrival in 1873 of the Bingham and Camp Floyd branch of the Utah Central Railroad dramatically changed Bingham's fortunes. This event revived lode mining and soon rich strikes were paying off. Milling and smelting facilities which made mining even more profitable soon sprang up in the canyon as well as in the Salt Lake and Tooele valleys. The end of the nineteenth century saw the consolidation of the small claims of many individual prospectors in Bingham Canyon into the hands of copper giants like the Boston Consolidated and Utah Copper Companies. The formation of these companies not only required a large supply of capital resources, but also created a demand for cheap labor. The flood of immigrants that resulted made Bingham one of the most ethnically diverse areas in the state of Utah. It was estimated that in 1912, 65 percent of the residents were foreign born. Each ethnic group settled in a different area of the canyon, elevating the population to more than 15,000 by the 1920s. In the process, these groups created distinct communities. Finns, Swedes, and Norwegians came to Carr Fork; Eastern and Southern European Slavs and Italians to Highland Boy; Greeks, Japanese, British, and Scandinavians to Copperfield; Austrians, Welsh, Cornish, and other Britons to Lark; and the British, French, Irish, and numerous others to Bingham. As a result the canyon was later dubbed by many to be a literal "League of Nations." Smaller camps with names like Frog Town, Freeman, Heaston Heights, Markham, Copper Heights, Dinkeyville, and Terrace Heights could also be found. Bingham, due to its steep topography, had room for only one main street that snaked its way through nearly seven miles of canyon. It was joked that, due to the narrowness of the canyon, dogs could only wag their tails up and down. These close confines added to the tragedies that resulted from the numerous fires, avalanches, and floods that continually plagued the residents of the town. These hazards and the canyon's limited space led to the construction of Copperton at the canyon's mouth in 1926. This town, designed as a model mining community, was originally built by the Utah Copper Company not for the average miner, but for the company's management. The homes, which made extensive use of copper in their construction, were rented to employees until 1956, at which time they were sold to the residents. The variety of people in Bingham Canyon helped transform "the hill," as the mining operations of the Utah Copper Company (later Kennecott Copper Corporation) were originally called, into the world's largest open-pit copper mine. This expansion continually required the purchase of living areas for miners as the old towns of the canyon were gradually swallowed. Highland Boy and Copperfield were dismantled by 1960 and the last buildings in Bingham were torn down in 1972. Lark had disappeared from the map by the end of 1980. Copperton remains the sole survivor of the communities that helped to make Bingham Canyon one of the most culturally diverse and rich areas of Utah. See: Leonard Arrington and Gary B. Hansen, "The Richest Hole on Earth - A History of the Bingham Copper Mine," Utah State University Monograph Series II (October 1963); Lynn R. Bailey, Old Reliable - A History of Bingham Canyon, Utah. (1990); Violet Boyce and Mabel Harmer, Upstairs to a Mine (1976); Scott Crump, Copperton (1978); Marion Dunn, Bingham Canyon (1973). Scott Crump BEET AND SUGAR HISTORY West Jordan was also the site of some of the very earliest airplane flights in the west Much of Utah's sugar beet history and production was centered in West Jordan West Jordan boxers gained national and international http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/w/WESTJORDAN.html WEST JORDAN West Jordan was on of the earliest Utah pioneer settlements after the founding of Salt Lake City. The community's roots begin in the later part of 1849 when some pioneers began spreading out in the Salt Lake valley. West Jordan's original unofficial area included most of the valley on the West Side of the Jordan River, and about a three-mile strip on the east side of the river past State Street in an area now occupied by Midvale, Sandy and the former Crescent area. West Jordan's name captures some of the flavor of what the Mormon pioneers considered their promised land. They saw strong similarities in this arid western desert and the biblical lands. Both contained fresh water lakes (Sea of Galilee and Utah Lake) and dead salt water rivers (River Jordan and Utah River.) This similarity in geological features led to this area being referred to as a western Jordan and the southern part of the valley as the Jordan Valley. Brigham Young reinforced this concept when he renamed the Utah River the West Jordan River, which was shortened through time and use to the Jordan River. The first settlers in the present area known as West Jordan were the Marius Ensign, Thomas Butterfield, and Samuel Egbert families. Other settlers soon followed. In 1850 Archibald Gardner and his brother Robert built a 2.5 mile millrace (canal) to bring water out of the Jordan River to the area of 7800 South. The water thus channeled was to provide a source of power for the saw mill they built the following year. Before long the population began to cluster near this general area and other enterprises were built and operated such as a flour mill, woolen mill, and tannery. Many settlers initially built dugouts to live in near the crest of the hill overlooking the river bottoms where farming was done. Although the original flour mill was burned by fire, it was rebuilt and still stands. During the 1980's it was converted into a fine furniture and delightful gift shop before a quality restaurant was added as well as a little village complex on the adjoining land. About one hundred yards to the Southwest of the flour mill, stands the first non-log chapel in Salt Lake Valley outside Salt Lake City. It took years of construction (1861-1867) before completion and dedication by Brigham Young. This building was known as the Rock Meeting House. It served most of settlements in the south end of the valley on both sides of the river and was used for many activities besides church. In fact to help finance the roof, a grand ball was held and officers from Fort Douglas were invited to participate. Dancing was a favorite pastime of the pioneers. In addition the building was used for school and other community activities and social events. Today the structure remains basically unchanged from the way the pioneers built it. Although the city of West Jordan now owns the property, it is operated by The Daughters of the Utah Pioneers, who make it available through rental to the public. Over the past three decades, its has also been used by other religions coming into the area. The building, now known as Pioneer Hall, adjoins the West Jordan Cemetery, which is one of two in the community with pioneer origins. The second is the small Wight's Forts cemetery located on 9000 South at 3449 West. In 1872 a major multicommunity cooperative effort was launched to build canals throughout the valley to provide water. This in turn provided the initial means for further growth in farming, settlement and other related development. West Jordan was also the site of some of the very earliest airplane flights in the west, which commenced in 1909 and continued through 14 March 1910. These experimental flights were made by L. R. Culver about six years after the Wright brothers flew their airplane at Kitty Hawk in 1903. Culver, a farmhand, built the aircraft in a farm equipment shed near 1700 West and 9000 South. At first a glider was constructed, then a motor was added to power the craft. His most successful flight was about fifty feet off the ground and lasted for about fifteen to twenty minutes. Much of Utah's sugar beet history and production was centered in West Jordan due to the large sugar factory built and operated in the community for many years. West Jordan also had been known for its fur industry, which has mostly disappeared due to urbanization. In the sports world, several West Jordan boxers gained national and international recognition, ranking and titles under the management of Marvin Jenson. Most notably native-son Gene Fullmer twice won the World Middle Weight Boxing Championship. Other fighters of note include AAU champions Floyd Richardson and Rex Layne (also a top professional contender), Olympic champion Jay Lambert, and Gene Fullmer's brother Don, who also fought for the Middle-weight championship. In politics, West Jordan was the home of Jean M. Westwood, when she was chosen to chair the National Democratic party on 14 July 1972, the first woman in America to chair a major national political party. It was 10 January 1941 before the town of West Jordan, with a population of less than 2,000, was officially incorporated. In the late 1960s the community began growing at such a rate it became one of the fastest growing small communities in the United States. By 1990 the population had reached 42,912. During this time the community has developed a degree of economic diversity with segments of industrial and commercial development along with its population growth. In the process, over a dozen community parks have been acquired and developed. This push to strengthen quality of life for citizens is also reflected in a recent successful proposal that brought it together with its sister city, South Jordan, to win the location site for a new 100-acre Salt Lake Community College campus, which will be built straddling the cities' shared border. Glen Moosman Laura